Colorado has been spreading biosolids with “forever chemicals” on farms, records show. How dangerous is it?
Metro Denver’s wastewater treatment system is spreading sewage biosolids laced with toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” at its farm in eastern Arapahoe County and on private farms that buy the material as fertilizer, according to test records obtained by the Colorado Sun.
The likely presence of the ubiquitous and dangerous chemicals on Colorado farmland, placed there through biosolids spread by Metro Water Recovery and more than 100 other municipal waste agencies, adds to a growing list of potential health threats and underscores the need for widespread testing, researchers and watchdog groups said.
No agency requires Metro Water Recovery or other Colorado municipal waste handlers to test the soil or groundwater where biosolids are spread to determine if the chemicals used to make nonstick pans and waterproof hiking clothes are creating the type of human health threats routinely documented by local and national researchers. Study after study shows detectable levels of PFAS in nearly all humans, in all the fish captured in one Colorado test, and in other living creatures.